UScellular Donates $56,300 in Wireless Hotspots, Service to Kinston Community Health Center
Company’s After School Access Project Helps Bridge ‘Homework Gap’
KINSTON, N.C. (Dec. 19, 2023) – To help provide equitable learning access and opportunities and keep local youth connected, UScellular has donated 50 wireless hotspots and two years of service to Kinston Community Health Center. The donations are worth $56,300 as part of the company’s After School Access Project.
“Our outreach staff completes home visits each week, and encounter many families with school aged children in need of internet access,” said Adriana Torres, Outreach Care Coordinator for Kinston Community Health Center. “During a recent visit one of our clients who is the caregiver for her grandson shared the hotspot is a big help while doing his homework. Without the hotspot, the only time he was able access the internet was when she had time to take him to the library. And, with the price of gas, she was unable to take him very often.”
Currently, more than 40 million people in the United States lack reliable access to high-speed internet. This leads to an issue known as the “homework gap” among youth who lack proper internet access. UScellular’s After School Access Project provides free mobile hotspots and service to nonprofits that support youth after the school day has ended and provides safe internet access for homework and education.
“The success of students in the communities we serve is very important to us at UScellular,” said Jeremy Taylor, UScellular’s director of sales and operations for eastern North Carolina. “Connecting people and communities is our mission, and the After School Access Project is just one way that we’re helping ensure students have the reliable access they need to grow and pursue their dreams. We encourage North Carolina nonprofit organizations to apply and help us bring reliable wireless internet access to youth across our great state.”
Hotspots are stand-alone Wi-Fi networks that can connect several devices at once wirelessly and have proven to be a vital tool for youth to access the internet, study and complete homework. The hotspots provided through AfterSchool Access Project connect to UScellular’s network to provide high-speed connectivity for youth.
“We are greatly appreciative of UScellular’s more than $1.8 million donation to help close the homework gap for North Carolina’s youth,” said Annette Taylor, director of the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Office of Digital Equity and Literacy. “These funds will help our state’s children access high-speed internet at home so they can continue learning, complete their homework, and build the foundation for successful careers.”
UScellular is focused on addressing gaps in STEM education and is committed to connecting more than 200,000 of tomorrow’s innovators each year with the resources they need today to help shape future opportunities. Since 2009, UScellular has donated nearly $22.6 million along with countless experiences and technology items to nonprofit organizations across the country. For more information about the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, please go to https://newsroom.uscellular.com/community/.
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